Do Green Energy products really make a difference?

Green Electricity Watch 2006 - Greenpower's Quarterly Report – Q4 December 2006 (PDF 1.3 MB) December 2006 is available here for download.

Green Electricity Watch provides a ranking of GreenPower electricity products, by three leading Australian environment organisations: the Australian Conservation Foundation, Total Environment Centre and WWF Australia.

Australians are the worst greenhouse polluters per capita in the industrialised world. This is largely due to our electricity consumption, which makes up 35% of Australian greenhouse emissions.

Our electricity doesn’t have to be like this: Australia is rich in clean renewable energy sources like wind, solar, bioenergy and hydro, which could supply much more of our power. Instead we get only 8% from renewable sources, and 92% from polluting fossil fuels such as coal.

There is a small mandatory target in law, for a 2% increase in renewable electricity nationally by 2010, and Victoria and South Australia have introduced their own targets. But these won’t reduce greenhouse emissions enough.

We need to source at least 25% of electricity from renewable energy by 2020 to help avoid dangerous climate change. Your choice to buy accredited GreenPower will help.

GreenPower is government-accredited clean, renewable energy sourced from the sun, the wind, water and
waste. By choosing accredited GreenPower you are driving the creation of new, renewable energy and reducing greenhouse emissions.

There are a lot of GreenPower products on offer. It’s important that you have confidence in your choice of GreenPower products. To help you, we have carried out an independent survey of what’s on the market.

Many GreenPower products include only a small percentage of accredited GreenPower. Some products are
sold as ‘100% renewable’ but it is only the accredited portion that makes a difference. Even if the remainder is renewable, it consists of renewable energy that is already in the grid or already being counted towards mandatory targets. Therefore your purchase does not contribute to the growth of new, renewable energy or assist in reducing our current greenhouse gas emissions.

Buy electricity with the highest ranking and amount of accredited Greenpower
Don’t buy non-accredited ‘green’ electricity products


How accredited products have been scored
... click on image for larger view

This survey ranks Green Power products. These have been scored on their ability to reduce greenhouse emissions based on several criteria, including:

• What is the proportion of accredited GreenPower in the product?
• How much does the product support the growth of new, renewable energy in Australia?
• How much has the retailer succeeded in promoting the uptake of GreenPower?
• How clear and accurate is the information given by retailers about their products?

Information on the Government’s GreenPower accreditation system: ph 1300 852 688 or www.greenpower.gov.au

For an easy guide to the full results of the survey visit www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au

Don’t buy these if you want your electricity to come from new clean energy!

ClearAir - Energy Australia
Green 100 - Jackgreen Energy
GreenFuture - Energy Australia
Red Energy - Red Energy

These electricity products are believed to come from renewable sources that have been part of our electricity system for a very long time or are already part of legislated schemes – buying from them will not reduce Australia’s greenhouse emissions or contribute to making more clean energy.

Earth Friendly - Synergy

This is not an electricity product, it is an alternative to GreenPower and has not been assessed by Green Electricity Watch. It is certified by the Australian Greenhouse Office’s Greenhouse FriendlyTM initiative and aims to reduce greenhouse emissions in other areas.